A student at the Yale School of Public Health is a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Margo Klar will pursue an innovative global health and development research project to reduce delivery-related infections in developing countries.
Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) funds scientists and researchers worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how persistent global health and development challenges are solved. Klar’s project is one of over 85 Grand Challenges Explorations Round 6 grants announced Thursday by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“GCE winners are expanding the pipeline of ideas for serious global health and development challenges where creative thinking is most urgently needed. These grants are meant to spur on new discoveries that could ultimately save millions of lives,” said Chris Wilson, director of Global Health Discovery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
To receive funding, Klar, a second-year M.P.H student at Yale, and other Grand Challenges Explorations Round 6 winners demonstrated in a two-page online application a bold research idea in one of five critical global heath and development topic areas: polio eradication, HIV, sanitation, family health technologies and mobile health.
With the grant, Klar will introduce a clean, simple and sharp umbilical cord cutting device that is designed to reduce the incidence of infection related to poor delivery hygiene in developing countries. The device will be named the “Ceramic Umbilical Cord Finger Scissors.”
Klar will develop the cutting device from already available ceramic materials and distribute the prototype to select communities in developing countries that have a high incidence of tetanus and perinatal infections. Data will be collected to determine the association between the use of the ceramic scissor and the reduction of infection. The device will also be analyzed for its ease of use, shape, ability to keep the cutting edge sterile and acceptance by birthing mothers. Any structural changes that aid in use, safety for the infant or reduce bleeding will be made to the device. If successful, a recommendation will be made to replace the disposable scalpel that is now widely used with the ceramic scissor.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tens of thousands of infants die each year from neonatal tetanus. The WHO recognizes that a significant number of these deaths are due to unclean delivery and cord practices.
Grand Challenges Explorations is a $100 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Launched in 2008, the grants have already been awarded to nearly 500 researchers from over 40 countries. The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline and from any organization. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive an additional grant of up to $1 million.